On Saturday, 86 years passed since the infamous 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed. In theory, it was a simple non-aggression agreement between the Soviets and the Nazis. However, a secret protocol attached guaranteed Hitler that Stalin would not interfere while the Nazis invade Poland - in return for a large portion of the then-Polish territories, as well as parts of the Baltic States, Finland and Romania for the Soviets.
On the 86th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Polish President Karol Nawrocki wrote on social media that "the entire world should learn from the events of 1939 and not allow sick dreams of an empire to consume more human lives". Meanwhile, as he added - "imperial resentments are now being revived in Russia".
"In 1939, (through their proxies) Stalin and Hitler signed an act that opened the way to World War II and claimed the lives of millions of people worldwide. Poland became the first victim of German, and then Soviet, aggression" - the 10th Polish president wrote on X.
On the pages of "The Political History of Poland 1935-1945", Polish historian professor Andrzej Garlicki assessed the 1939 pact between the two totalitarian powers in the following words:
"The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is often called the Fourth Partition of Poland. This name accurately captures its essence. Two neighboring countries concluded an agreement dividing Polish territory between them. And after a few weeks, in September, they implemented their dealings".
The European Parliament in 2019 passed a resolution that recounted how World War II broke out in September 1939 and stressed that Poland was attacked by not one but two superpowers at the time. As the resolution states: “Poland was invaded first by Hitler and two weeks later by Stalin - which stripped the country of its independence and was an unprecedented tragedy for the Polish people".
The resolution adopted by MEPs in September 2019 also called on the European Commission to decisively counteract “efforts by the current Russian leadership to distort historical facts and whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime”. It added that such attempts were “a dangerous component of the information war waged against democratic Europe that aims to divide Europe”.
For several decades, the topic of a treaty with Nazi Germany was either passed over in silence or presented in a manipulated manner in the USSR. Vladimir Putin went even further after becoming president of Russia, though.
"While he did not deny the USSR's signing of secret protocols concerning the partition of Poland and the Baltic states, and the seizure of control over Bessarabia, with increasing irritation he emphasized that historical disputes should be the subject of research by historians and journalists, and should not play a significant role in political relations"
- Polish historian Paweł Bielicki described Putin's attitude towards the issue in the quarterly "Dzieje Najnowsze" in 2002.
Russian rhetoric on historical policy intensified after 2014. Following his unlawful annexation of Crimea, Putin openly justified the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. On the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, he declared that it was "essential for the USSR's national security", and that Poland and the Baltic states occupied by the USSR "must end their phobias of the past". Well... As developments in Ukraine, in Georgia, in Moldova, in Belarus and in a number of other places neighbouring Russia have shown - they most definitely shouldn't.
Putin went even further speaking about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact after the launch of his unlawful full-scale aggression against Ukraine. In February 2024, while interviewed by Tucker Carlson, the Russian dictator went even further, falsely blaming Poland for the outbreak of World War II - an an outright lie, no less.
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Source: IAR, PAP